It’s coming, that most wonderful day of the year. Unlike Christmas, it’s never on the same day as the year before. And you’ll never know when it will come but it has, without fail, for the last twenty years.

The table of destiny

St. Totteringham’s Day is celebrated by Gooners around the world on the day we are mathematically guaranteed to finish above our North London rivals, Tottenham. It’s generally celebrated by pointing and laughing at our neighbors in white and their perception of their club as superior.

This year is a little bittersweet because we didn’t beat them this season (although we did three times last year), drawing at home and losing away. Currently Spurs are in 6th place with 58 points & 4 games left and Arsenal are in 3rd with 67 points & 5 games left. That means that only nine points separate us. Because we must be assured that they can’t catch us, we don’t take goal differential into account.

Depending on how this weekend’s games turn out, we could be celebrating St. Totteringham’s Day as early as Monday. Let’s consult the chart. If Spurs beat City and we also win, then there are still 9 points between us and no holiday. Spurs would have 3 games left in which they can collect those 9 points (although they’d also need a 25 goal swing in differential). So we need a solution where Spurs drop more points than us for it to be that magical day (1. We win and Spurs lose or draw or 2. We draw and Spurs lose).

This rivalry has been a bit one-sided as of late, with Arsenal finishing above Spurs in the table for each of the last 20 years. It hasn’t always been easy. In ’12 & ’13 we only secured it on the last day of the season. Before that they had been above us by as much as 10 points at the end of January. Here’s a reading from a delusional Spurs fan at the time.

“Harry Redknapp’s reputation continues to thrive not only among Spurs fans, but also football enthusiasts around the globe. Bringing Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor to the club this season only added to what was already an excellent squad of players. Not only have Harry’s player purchases been very astute, he has also helped Gareth Bale become one of the best footballers in the world. He is able to instil a belief in players that Wenger cannot. Another great example of this is Benoit Assou-Ekotto. He was going nowhere fast at Tottenham but Redknapp spotted his potential and gave the former Lens man a chance. Ekotto is now one of the very best left backs the Premier League has to offer.” link

That quote is so good that I can’t stop reading it. But do be on the lookout, they never stop trying. But to all Spurs fans, as we’ve said for the last 20 years, “Mind the Gap.”

Our 13 Div 1 titles, 11 (hopefully 12) FA Cups vs Spurs 2 & 8

*Update – our friends over at Wrong Side of the Pond have used their infinitely greater resources to write an article beating up on ours (oh, how the tables have turned). For the sake of unbiased coverage, check it out here.